Which councilmembers have taken the most money from the landlord lobby?
Jeff Gee
- Harbor Village Mobile Home Park$8,500
- California Real Estate PAC (CREPAC)$5,500
- Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association PAC$2,600
- California Apartment Association PAC (CAAPAC)$2,250
Diane Howard
- California Real Estate PAC (CREPAC)$6,450
- Harbor Village Mobile Home Park$3,500
- California Apartment Association PAC (CAAPAC)$3,000
- John Shroyer, Sotheby's International Realty$3,000
Isabella Chu
- Harbor Village Mobile Home Park$3,995
- National Association of Realtors Fund$2,026
- California Real Estate PAC (CREPAC)$2,000
- California Apartment Association PAC (CAAPAC)$500
Marcella Padilla
- National Association of Realtors Fund$2,187
- California Real Estate PAC (CREPAC)$1,000
- Harbor Village Mobile Home Park$1,000
- Kathy Zmay Real Estate$350
Out-of-town corporations own the vast majority of rental properties in our city$. Their lobbyists spend big to influence local elections.
$ Anti-Eviction Mapping Project. 2024. "Who Owns Redwood City's Rental Housing?"
Top 5 Spenders in Redwood City Council Elections: 2018 to 2024
Includes contributions and independent expenditures in Redwood City City Council elections from 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024.
California Apartment Association PAC (CAAPAC)
The political action committee of California's largest landlord and property manager trade group, funded by its rental-industry members.
National Association of Realtors Fund
The campaign spending arm of the National Association of Realtors, which outspent every other organization in the country on federal lobbying in 2024*. Locally, it can spend unlimited sums on ads for candidates it favors.
California Real Estate PAC (CREPAC)
The PAC of the California Association of Realtors, which poured at least $19 million into defeating Prop 33†, the statewide 2024 ballot measure that would have let cities expand rent control.
Harbor Village Mobile Home Park
Residents of this 300-lot park own their homes but rent the land beneath them, leaving them few options when lot rents rise. Its owner, Marjal Corp., is part of a group of statewide property management firms operated by Albert Engel.
* OpenSecrets federal lobbying data, 2024, as reported by Real Estate News, "NAR spent more on lobbying than any other group in 2024," Feb. 14, 2025. † Jeremia Kimelman, "This California proposition is drawing the most campaign spending," CalMatters, Oct. 29, 2024.
The same landlord money that backed our council is now bankrolling the fight against renter protections.
Between 2018 and 2024, the three biggest spenders in council races put $81,100 into getting their candidates elected. In just over a month this fall, those same three interests have poured $150,000 into defeating Measure E, the ballot measure to strengthen renter protections in Redwood City.
Who's Funding the Opposition to Renter Protections
Contributions to the committee opposing this year's Measure E, August 24 to September 26, 2026.
California Apartment Association
California Association of Realtors
Harbor Village & Its Owner
The remaining $25,247 came from 10 other donors, most of them tied to real estate and property management.